smith365

I wanted to reply to this thread since I also had to replace my coolant pipe assembly (or "water guide housing"), and there doesn't seem to be any mention of this repair anywhere else online. I'm guessing not many people have issues with this part, so we're in the unlucky few. My '05 Boxster 2.7 developed a coolant leak roughly a week after I completed a preventative water pump replacement. I noticed the leak under the front of the engine and assumed that the new pump was the culprit. Turns out the coolant pipe assembly was seeping from the top, due to a bad seal. I tried draining the cooling system and using JB Weld at the source of the leak (which was hard to pinpoint, since it was hidden directly underneath a pulley). This didn't hold, so I also took upon the task of removing this part. Here are a couple of things I learned: The 4 bolts holding the motor mount are really tough to remove. The top two bolts are close to the firewall and only need to be loosened, since the mount is slotted around these and can slide out once they're loose. The bottom two have to be completely removed, but they're really long and there is not enough clearance to do this since they hit against the chassis. I had to drop the motor a few inches to get them at an angle where I could pull them out. There's a hidden torx bolt in the center of the mount that you'll never find unless you know it's there. The head faces towards the front of the car, and I used a long extension on my ratchet to approach it. Apparently, only newer cars have this bolt, but my engine was replaced in '11 so mine had it. The engine carrier is attached to the mount and they come out in an assembly, so this has to be removed as well. There's only 4 nuts holding this up, which are easily identifiable under the car. Sometimes the studs these nuts are attached to come out as well, which is expected. It's actually easier if they do, since the mount tends to get hung up on these threads as you try to wiggle and drop it from the car. Pelican Parts has a good article on "Porsche Boxster Motor Mount Replacement" that I used as reference. There are nine T30 torx bolts holding the coolant pipe assembly to the engine. They're hard to get to and require a lot of patience. I believe 3 of them were longer than the rest, so pay attention to where they go. I also had to remove the oil pressure relief valve to get out the coolant pipe. I'd say roughly 1/3 my oil drained during this process, so be prepared to catch this. The plastic coolant pipe assembly was really hard to get out. Even with everything removed (timing belt, motor mount, temp sensor, hoses, and oil pressure relief valve) you really have to work it down and out of the car. I had to put a lot of stress on the lower portion to get it around the spot where the oil pressure relief valve mounts, but this seemed to be the only way to get it clear. Originally, I was only going to replace the top and bottom seals on this piece, but after going through the work of removing it, I'm going to replace the entire part ( #987-106-508-04). This is not a job I ever want to revisit in the future.